Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. announced today that it will build a U.S. automotive production facility in Chattanooga, Tenn., where it will produce a car designed specifically for the North American consumer and invest $1 billion in the economy. The announcement is an important element of the company’s overall U.S. strategy of connecting with its customers, increasing its competitiveness and tripling its U.S. customer base in the next decade.

Not to mention the fact that with the dollar tanking, it’s cheaper to build here than in Europe, and VW’s Mexican facilities are busy producing Jettas and New Beetles.

VW has been Stateside before, having built Rabbits and such in Pennsylvania from 1978 to 1988. There remains the lingering question of how well VW reads the US marketplace: they would never have done the New Beetle were it not for tremendous demand engendered by a concept version shown in Detroit.